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Isaac was born in Petrovichi, in the Russian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1920 to a family of Jewish millers Judah and Anna Rachel Asimov. He died on April 6, 1992.Asimov was an American professor of biochemistry at Boston University. Asimov also wrote novels and is best remembered for his science fiction works as well as popular science. He managed to write more than five hundred books and numerous letters published into books.
Order of Black Widowers Collections
| # | Read | Title | Published | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tales of the Black Widowers | 1974 | Description / Buy | |
| 2 | More Tales of the Black Widowers | 1976 | Description / Buy | |
| 3 | Casebook of the Black Widowers | 1980 | Description / Buy | |
| 4 | Banquets of the Black Widowers | 1984 | Description / Buy | |
| 5 | Puzzles of the Black Widowers | 1990 | Description / Buy | |
| 6 | The Return of the Black Widowers | 2003 | Description / Buy |
In this review, we shall cover Asimov’s letter –book series The Black Widowers-a six-part series book centered on his personal experiences with a seniors group dubbed The Trap Door Spiders. He relieves the moments, activities and the stories shared by these cronies who had lost their spouses. The series comprises 66 editions of mystery stories. It relives a group of middle-aged men that meet up once month for dinner and drinks to catch up and generally spend time together. Each story begins with a mystery from one of the invited guests and Henry the waiter, is always present and ready to solve the problem.
The Black Widowers Best Books
Tales of the Black Widowers #1: The first book is based on a bibliographic twist and without a specific reference. It begins with the Union Carbide Corporation holding a smart detective contest for their loyal clients. The company published and dispersed to various promoters and marketers of household cleaning detergent products, cosmetic products, and chemical products; special publications of three of the official Sherlock Holmes collection of short stories.
Each book contained a mystery and the contestants asked to contribute answers to the books on the back of the volumes an unfinished mystery by a well-known author. Lucky contestants were promised a magnificent gift, a night in a Scottish castle. Clues of the expected solutions would be hidden in Union Carbide advertisements in several trade magazines.
One of the mystery short stories was “The Case of the Dying Hint” that appeared on the Sherlock Holmes Casebook jacket. Solution hints neatly hidden in ten issues of trade magazines namely “Detergents and Specialties” and “Soap and Chemical Specialties.” The story had the famous quote “We’ve talked together, drank together, fished together and, played chess and two-handed pinochle together,” Asimov began his mystery series for Ellery Queen’s mystery magazine in 1971.
Inspired by his own experiences with six of his closest friends, the stories involve bosom friends and dinner companions who had to bring a guest during their monthly meetings. Henry was always on standby to help with clues to solve the mysteries.
Tales of the Black Widowers provides a selection of exciting games such as Chinese checkers, Monopoly, backgammon, Parcheesi, chess, checkers, and tick-tack-toe”. None of the games makes up for the plot. Nevertheless, the mutual interest of the players and the narrator plays a key role to the entire plot. It’s the joy of meeting, socializing and solving simple mysteries that fill up the entire book. If you’re not a fan of games, you may find the book a bit of a drag. It doesn’t offer solid entertainment, but perhaps readers could draw important lessons to adopt in their lives.
I found the loyalty and dedication to stand together for the six friends as a wonderful idea. Children, and sometimes spouses come and go, but friends stick closer, forever. The story has an excellent twist providing the foundation for a beautifully crafted plot. To solve any of the mysteries, the participants have to read a famous author such as Lewis Carroll’s “Alice in Wonderland” to find solutions.
More Tales of the Black Widowers #2 The Black Widowers: The second short stories collection of mystery continues the same plot as the first book. A group of men gathers every month for a shared banquet; each must bring a guest who in turn must provide a mystery for the rest of the team to discuss and solve. As they all try to find clues and possible solutions to the puzzle, Henry the waiter saves the day with his smart, well-articulated solutions.
Some of the stories tales are reasonably creative and others merely frustrating. The most enjoyable ones comprise the Three Numbers and Quicker than the eye. These involved a new plot and provided exciting mysteries to solve. If you’re familiar with the British mystery writers of the early twenties, you’ll enjoy this book. It offers both complex and easy mysteries .Some I found most enjoyable while other stories seem to rely on deep or profound info that the average reader may not follow through to the end.
It makes the entire story look like an intricate contraption. Most crime stories contain simple entertaining themes, but the author chooses to indulge us in his scientific frame of mind; perhaps hoping also to entertain readers of his caliber. The redeeming quality in these tales is that they are incredibly short, and readers may easily finish a book and move on to the next one fast. Recommended for night reading just before bedtime.
Casebook of the Black Widowers: In this book series containing the regular get-together dinner and entertainment of the Black Widower’s club, we read about a bunch of loyal mates and the regular waiter; Henry consistently outwits the dinner mates every time they provide a mystery to solve. The most bizarre mystery in this book is how Henry portrays ingenious solutions instead of securing a job in a more challenging environment. I guess we’ll never know since the Asimov does not elaborate further what Henry does in his spare time.
In this edition, a story I found unique was one where the mystery involves cults, planet Mars, and astral ships. Once again, the author veers off the layman’s language and dwells on scientific and technical jargon. This time he does it sparingly and makes it more enjoyable with extras such as foreign languages, symbols, and many clues. Most of the riddles revolve around words and symbolic ideas. The book provides a relatively solid entertainment for alert readers.
These short stories provide some fascinating puzzles interwoven between hidden clues and natural brainpower as demonstrated by the intellectual resourcefulness of Henry, the waiter. If you love mind joggers and feel the need to explore a simple, easy to read novel, this one’s for you.
What Is The Next Book in The Black Widowers Collections?
There doesn't seem to be an upcoming book in The Black Widowers Collections. The newest book is The Return of the Black Widowers and was released on January, 1st 2003.